Pleione limprichtii *MINI*

[Ross]

Yeah, I buried mine WAY too deep!

[Tony]

That's cool looking. I think people grow those outside in Oregon, I remember seeing a yard full of little orchids that looked like that.

[Ross]

I believe what you saw was Calypso bulbosa. They are similar and I know for a fact they are native plants in southern Oregon. I remember an acre sized patch along the Rogue River.

[Tony]

They weren't Calypso bulbosa, although I did have a few of those in my collection.

[Ross]

Just for the record, wre they naturally in your yard, or in "your collection" as in pots or containers? If the latter, how did you grow them? I tried (in my younger days) to collect from the wild and it failed - thus the CITES and other thrusts to protect natural spp (I credit my dismal experiences for the origines of CITES)

[wallyworld]

Looks great!! Another plant I can not grow down here but that is just the way it goes.

[ospylac]

Folks definately culture these outside in temperature regions. They proliferate readily with minimal care but require a long, cold dormancy period. C.bulbosa has a much smaller flower and is way tricker to culture.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by ospylac

Folks definately culture these outside in temperature regions. They proliferate readily with minimal care but require a long, cold dormancy period. C.bulbosa has a much smaller flower and is way tricker to culture.

That's what I've been reading. Don't think I'll try it again. But the others are fair game for me. I can grow them outside and bring to basement over winter when leaves die back. Do they stay dry over winter?

[Tony]

Originally Posted by rsfrid

Just for the record, wre they naturally in your yard, or in "your collection" as in pots or containers? If the latter, how did you grow them? I tried (in my younger days) to collect from the wild and it failed - thus the CITES and other thrusts to protect natural spp (I credit my dismal experiences for the origines of CITES)

I collected them from an area of forest that was being cut down for development. I grew a couple in pots with mixed success, but the best results came from growing with other native plants. I used a rubbermade container, about 18" x 12" x 6". The bottom layer was rotting wood from the area the Calypso were collected, about an inch deep. Over that was soil, again from the same area, about 3 inches deep, and topped off with a thin layer of leaf litter. I had about 10 Calypso, a few native ferns, and a couple young Douglass fir seedlings growing in it. I was basically trying to replicate the area where they had been growing on a smaller scale, and it worked well. They flowered every year for 3 years in that setup. When I moved, I replanted them in an area that was part of state park lands, so they are probably still there today.

[ospylac]

Pleiones definately stay dry all winter. I withhold water when the leaves begin to yellow and don't begin again until the spring.